Mechanical Pencils

E

enderwiggin

Joined
Nov 18, 2006
Messages
2,011
I've been getting back into drawing recently, after a good 10 year hiatus. I'm getting decent again, but have a problem: All I've been able to find are cheap office store mechanical pencils to use. And none of the art stores near me have more than one type of drafting pencil.

Does anyone here use a mechanical pencil for professional drafting, or as an art student?

I'm curious what brands/models I should be looking at online.
 
I've always had good luck at Staples. The professional drafting pencils are off by themselves. At the end of the pencil / pen isle in my store. They have several kinds, my preferences are Staedtler ( 925 07 ) or the Pentel (P209) but they also carry real expensive drafting pencil sets. Hope this helps.
 
You could also see if there's a drafting supply place, pen store, or a college bookstore near you. If the college bookstore has any, the prices will be inflated to some degree, but you might be able to try them first.

At the various office stores, sometimes there's also a drafting section set far apart from the rest of the pencils and such.

I have a Pentel Graphgear 1000 in .9mm I'm rather found of. There is a slight amount of play in the tip, but it's retractable.

The Pentel Graphgear 500 is also fairly decent if you don't mind the plastic top of the pencil. It has a fixed sleeve, and is surprisingly widely available.
 
The Pentel Twist-Erase models are the best mechanical pencils I have come across. They are available in 0.5mm, 0.7mm, and 0.9mm. I use these to sketch floorplans on a daily basis. I don't do any real drafting or artwork but I use these for work and school.
 
How about a Rotring? They're well known for their mechanical pencils, as well as their 600 series fountain pens.
 
You will propbably have to go online or find a specialist art store to get anything decent.

Check out the OHTO Super Promecha if you're looking for a top end pencil
 
:thumbup:

I just ordered a pair of .3mm and .5mm Staedtler 925 25's.


Great info, the Staedtler appears to be the true Japanese version of the plastic model I've grown fond of, though the pencil itself left something to be desired.
 
kozak6 said:
Also, the "old style" Rotring 600 seems to be the pencil equivalent of the Sebenza. It's been out of production for a while though, and prices vary wildly. I've never handled one.
Click to expand...

The Pentel branded aluminum models are :barf:

The older "German" brass ones are extremely good for the price (at least what I paid). You can find them on the European ebay sites and they can be a little difficult to find, "win" and pay for but, they are really worth the effort if you can keep the price around $25. Old "dead stock" or an older European cleaning out a desk are your best bets for one of these " good" pens.
 
dttomcat said:
The Pentel Twist-Erase models are the best mechanical pencils I have come across. They are available in 0.5mm, 0.7mm, and 0.9mm. I use these to sketch floorplans on a daily basis. I don't do any real drafting or artwork but I use these for work and school.
Click to expand...

+1

I've been using the .9mm Twist-Erase exclusively for about 5+ years on a daily basis. I sketch ideas and interfaces with them. I like the fatter lead for drawing.

they definitely aren't drafting pencils, though.
 
I'm still using my trusty cross (http://www.cross.com/) sets, recently sent back my Pen/Pencil set from 1975 to cross for a cleaning and the things are like new again.

Of course I paid only $0.50 per set at a thrift shop so I got a heck of deal and it makes the service fee a bit easier to manage. AT Cross gets a big thumbs up in my book, though I don't use it for sketching.
 
I don't know about professional drafting, but I am a Civil Engineer and do a fair amount of drawing with my pencils. I prefer the Pentel P209. Cheap enough that I don't mind losing one in the field and the .9 lead writes and draws well.
 
I also use the pentel twist-erase pen. Very comfortable writing to long peroids of time. It's nice and smooth and the lead doesn't push into the pencil. Where moth other mechanicals would have plastic, the pentel uses metal. Very good quality. I feel like an architect when I write with them:D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top